Misc True to Life AI 2013 Season 1.4

[ParkYongLee]

Well I just wanted to check if mass matters or not, ok 5500 had an "impact" (wordly) to the ai's car
Hm, good, so mass'll be the fastest way to change the cars' speed while having equal aero/handling. I tried setting engine_power different at the database but that really had no effect to anyone (no wonder all cars have 750 as default ... the tiers seem useless then regarding the engine, lol).

So, another point for testing sensible, today I was playing around with track_difficulties, was like 0,02 points = 1sec usually but it's a pain to adjust it to your own skill level, playing around with adding 0.001 and having 50% races ... *yeeks*

Will be interesting to see how much mass equals 1 sec laptime

 

[snthennumbers]

Well I just wanted to check if mass matters or not, ok 5500 had an "impact" (wordly) to the ai's car
Hm, good, so mass'll be the fastest way to change the cars' speed while having equal aero/handling. I tried setting engine_power different at the database but that really had no effect to anyone (no wonder all cars have 750 as default ... the tiers seem useless then regarding the engine, lol).

So, another point for testing sensible, today I was playing around with track_difficulties, was like 0,02 points = 1sec usually but it's a pain to adjust it to your own skill level, playing around with adding 0.001 and having 50% races ... *yeeks*

Will be interesting to see how much mass equals 1 sec laptime

I haven't played with the engine power at all since 2013 regulations say all cars should have 750hp. I did modify the ai_engine_power_per_tier table and had results which matched 2013 results. I also noticed the engine_manufacturer table which mentions some horsepower values for each engine manufacturer...maybe worth playing with if you're feeling adventurous

Glad to hear that the mass does make a difference, thought I was going insane there for a minute lol...

The tiers do in fact have an effect on the AI. However, I honestly don't know how that works. At one point a while back I had the vanilla 2012 game and made all teams tier 1. Karthekayan was qualifying in the top 5, Alonso was down in 12th...the drivers were just all over the place. So I know it makes a difference, but I just don't know how or where.
It's really a balancing act between the team's tier level, the values for the drivers in the ai_driver table, and the CTF files.
Then you get into customizing difficult levels per track with the track_difficulties table like you mentioned.

One way I've found which somewhat helps with having to adjust the track_difficulties table is to do one shot qualifying. You'll be able to see the AI's ghost car and it helps you a bit to learn the racing line. I had my track_difficulies table set to custom values, but then started doing this form of qualifying on some tracks during testing, and now I'm using all 1's in the track_difficulties table in the expert column (same as default). Spa is my only nemesis now...that track definitely is made for people with wheels lol

Glad to hear you're getting somewhere though and enjoying the mod

 

[ParkYongLee]

Well, after so many modifications I wonder what's left of your mod I guess the ai files are untouched (based on TTL 1.7 + competitive breaking mod) as I am driving 1997's complete overhaul (but the db was competely insane ...), hehe.
Mentioning the tier ... I've put all teams into tier 2, for a test I changed the back teams to values "100" (ai_engine_power_per_tier & f1teams) thought they wouldn't move at all, haha - nothing changed they still run the same speed as before *shrug*. Manufacturers are all equally set.

Regarding all that one fact always bothers me, when starting "race only" the game sets up the usual grip, disregarding the team's now real performance (e.g. Mercedes is often row 1 in Sepang but it's now HSBC team with weak performance and "default_grid_position" set to 21 and 22 at the db) also some drivers tend to have their own performance, disregarding the database (Alonso [M. Schumacher at 1997]) is often untouchable in Australia even when I set his hole stats equal or a bit lower than the other top drivers.

For adjusting the track_diff I can't just race a one shot quali, I usually need 3-4 laps to get into the best mood (all helps disabled) and get the corners the best I can. But it seems the ai runs much different in quali than in race so I usually go 50% races with best car (ok all equal atm ) and see how many seconds I can gap, so I calculate it down and change the values at the db and run the next race

Well, currently I'm around 0.6 ~ 0.62 at most of the tracks (haven't touched all yet, haven't driven all circuits yet w/o breaking line, Sepang was new today as well - what a pain at first).

So ... I'm commenting here with this topic as I find you're a knowledgeable and sympathic guy to discuss about that stuff, tehe. And you already helped me several times =)

Thanks for your support so far, I really appreciate it.

 

[snthennumbers]

Well, after so many modifications I wonder what's left of your mod I guess the ai files are untouched (based on TTL 1.7 + competitive breaking mod) as I am driving 1997's complete overhaul (but the db was competely insane ...), hehe.
Mentioning the tier ... I've put all teams into tier 2, for a test I changed the back teams to values "100" (ai_engine_power_per_tier & f1teams) thought they wouldn't move at all, haha - nothing changed they still run the same speed as before *shrug*. Manufacturers are all equally set.

Regarding all that one fact always bothers me, when starting "race only" the game sets up the usual grip, disregarding the team's now real performance (e.g. Mercedes is often row 1 in Sepang but it's now HSBC team with weak performance and "default_grid_position" set to 21 and 22 at the db) also some drivers tend to have their own performance, disregarding the database (Alonso [M. Schumacher at 1997]) is often untouchable in Australia even when I set his hole stats equal or a bit lower than the other top drivers.

For adjusting the track_diff I can't just race a one shot quali, I usually need 3-4 laps to get into the best mood (all helps disabled) and get the corners the best I can. But it seems the ai runs much different in quali than in race so I usually go 50% races with best car (ok all equal atm ) and see how many seconds I can gap, so I calculate it down and change the values at the db and run the next race

Well, currently I'm around 0.6 ~ 0.62 at most of the tracks (haven't touched all yet, haven't driven all circuits yet w/o breaking line, Sepang was new today as well - what a pain at first).

So ... I'm commenting here with this topic as I find you're a knowledgeable and sympathic guy to discuss about that stuff, tehe. And you already helped me several times =)

Thanks for your support so far, I really appreciate it.

You could drop the AI files in from v2.6 and it won't hurt anything, just FYI.
My only guess regarding the tiers/horsepower thing you mentioned is that there may be a lower limit to how much horsepower the cars can have?

Also, when you adjusted the ai_engine_power_per_tier table, did you change the values for the back teams under the correct tier column? AKA with my database Marussia is tier 3, so you'd need to adjust the "Tier3" column for ID 30.

 

[snthennumbers]

Mh, i am 99,9% sure that i installed everything right. And believe me i am not that awesome But i won't downlad the 2013 mod again, i have a bad and slow connection. Like i said i am happy with the other mod.

*Deep Breath*
Alright bud - either you're an amazing driver, or you're not installing something correctly, and now I'm sure of it. I did a 100% race with Williams (as Bottas) at Shanghai, thinking the time I gain in turn 1 would help me out.
I just did a race only event, computer put me as 16th on the grid, Maldonado behind me in 17th. I check the race strategy the game puts me on: softs to start, stop 1 medium, stop 2 medium, stop 3 medium. I change things around a little bit, and despite the computer complaining my medium tyres would be worn out, I went with softs to start, stop 1 soft, stop 2 medium, stop 3 soft.

56 laps later and we have this (after being gifted 2 spots due to DNF's):

So then I said to myself...well I wonder how much further up the grid I would've been if I had qualified, so I did a full qualifying session:

So you can see based on laptimes, I really wouldn't have finished much higher than where I finished with the race only event. So idk what you do or how you drive, but winning races with a Williams (or Marussia & Caterham for that matter) is highly unlikely.

 

[Bong]

Dear Snthennumbers,

thanks for your mod. I used it for the past 2 career seasons (25 %, one shot qualifying) and have seen great improvements in AI behaviour.
As I run a fantasy season with my own set of driver and team names. I changed the database to my liking, making the AI aggressive but with various levels of mistakes, controls, speed in/out and virtual performance while bringing cars closer together by changing the engine power to the same level but not changing the tiers to have some difference in performance.
My results were positive, the better drivers were often at the top, but occasionally weaker drivers claimed podium positions. In some races certain teams were stronger than others, but over all drivers' skills mattered more than cars' performances and all cars usually finish within the same lap as I desired.
After season 1 I had only one major problem left. At my level I am very good at same tracks but pathetic at others, which I previously tried to balance by changing the AI level. But thanks to another of your many, many great pieces of advice I learnt to adjust track_diff for season 2. Now, if I race well (tier 3 car) I have a chance of winning but with never more than a few secs to spare, which is perfect. Next season I will race a tier 2 car and increase the track_diff.
I did play around with tyres max_distance dividing them by 2 (supersoft 17.24 and later 2.5 (supersoft 12.5). It appears it only affected the AI but not me. You mentioned to restart the game after the change which I did. Maybe I misunderstood and you meant to restart the career. I will do this after season 3.
Thanks so much for all your work and your superb advice. How do you find the time. You are truly a great guy.

 

[snthennumbers]

Dear Snthennumbers,

thanks for your mod. I used it for the past 2 career seasons (25 %, one shot qualifying) and have seen great improvements in AI behaviour.
As I run a fantasy season with my own set of driver and team names. I changed the database to my liking, making the AI aggressive but with various levels of mistakes, controls, speed in/out and virtual performance while bringing cars closer together by changing the engine power to the same level but not changing the tiers to have some difference in performance.
My results were positive, the better drivers were often at the top, but occasionally weaker drivers claimed podium positions. In some races certain teams were stronger than others, but over all drivers' skills mattered more than cars' performances and all cars usually finish within the same lap as I desired.
After season 1 I had only one major problem left. At my level I am very good at same tracks but pathetic at others, which I previously tried to balance by changing the AI level. But thanks to another of your many, many great pieces of advice I learnt to adjust track_diff for season 2. Now, if I race well (tier 3 car) I have a chance of winning but with never more than a few secs to spare, which is perfect. Next season I will race a tier 2 car and increase the track_diff.
I did play around with tyres max_distance dividing them by 2 (supersoft 17.24 and later 2.5 (supersoft 12.5). It appears it only affected the AI but not me. You mentioned to restart the game after the change which I did. Maybe I misunderstood and you meant to restart the career. I will do this after season 3.
Thanks so much for all your work and your superb advice. How do you find the time. You are truly a great guy.

Thanks bud but no need to restart career, just the game itself!
And I believe if you go too low with the max_distance value, then it creates issues and/or it affects the AI negatively.
There seems to be a lower limit that you can set for the life of the tyres, and my 50% database values are already pretty close to that lower limit. In my 50% and 100% databases, both with increased tyre wear, the AI will do 2, or 3+ pitstop strategies.
For instance in my previous post about the race at China, when I changed my strategy from soft, medium, medium, medium to soft, soft, medium, soft...a number of AI cars around me did this as well, so I was constantly running across AI cars which were on softs, and some other on mediums. At one point Perez and I made a dash up through the field because we were both on softs while most others were on mediums. So the adjustments work, you just need to be careful with them.

 

[Bong]

Thanks

I will take that into consideration. But I still think that tyre wear is a season thing.

 

[snthennumbers]

Thanks

I will take that into consideration. But I still think that tyre wear is a season thing.

What do you mean "a season thing"? I don't understand

 

[snthennumbers]

snthennumbers updated True to Life AI with a new update entry:

Improvements based on user feedback

Version 2.7 release notes:

Tracks folder:
Minimized the loss of time the AI experiences through turn 1 of Shanghai. Please note I was not able to "fix" this problem, but I made the best of a bad situation, so now at least the AI doesn't lose quite as much time.
Increased AI speed through turns 5 & 6 at Bahrain.
Corrected AI speed through the chicane at the end of the Catalunya circuit, along with other minor adjustments throughout the track.
Corrected an issue where the AI was too...

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[dj3d007]

We'll just DL the update. As usual I will test and post findings. Keep it up snthennumbers, you are a bad man!!!

 

[pedritopedrito]

Nice job Snthenumber ,I will test soon the new release.

 

[Bong]

What do you mean "a season thing"? I don't understand

Sorry, it was late. I meant 'changeable' as tires are influenced by many things: max_distance, tyre_wear_front_rear, weather, personal driving style and probably a few more. Thereby making it difficult to write values that forces AI and human driver to have equal numbers of pitstops.

 

[snthennumbers]

Sorry, it was late. I meant 'changeable' as tires are influenced by many things: max_distance, tyre_wear_front_rear, weather, personal driving style and probably a few more. Thereby making it difficult to write values that forces AI and human driver to have equal numbers of pitstops.

Gotchya, but for what its worth I've found the AI does the number of pitstops which are scheduled for you in the race strategy window before the race. So I typically see 2 stop races from the AI on 50% distance, and 3 stops on 100% distance (sometimes 2 stops if the track uses the hard compound tyre).
Even when I mess around with the strategy (sometimes you can change it around and make it work so you're on the softer compound more), I still see the AI pitting as much as I do. Some even change their strategies around like I do.

 

[kaj007]

can you now choose every team for career in first season? and will the 90 flashbacks automatic or you must do something first?

 

[snthennumbers]

can you now choose every team for career in first season? and will the 90 flashbacks automatic or you must do something first?

No, like the overview page says:

-All teams available after 1st career season. Please note that making all teams available at career start involves changing team IDs, so I did not go this route as it will cause mismatches with graphics after installing v1tek's 2013 mod. As well, changing IDs will cause corrupt profiles.

So making all teams available at Career start involves some messy modifications which can cause some big headaches with graphic files, etc. So I made it so that you should have contract offers from all teams by the end of Career Season 1 (assuming you're doing well in the championship )

As for 99 flashbacks: just install the database and you're good to go. Be sure to NEVER touch the flashbacks setting in the difficulty menu, or the # of flashbacks will get reset to 4, and it's a pain to fix it again.

 

[Mr Anthony]

I'm loving this mod, it's just brilliant. I actually feel like the game is balanced and fun to play now. Thank you very much!

- Anthony.

 

[REGiSTERED]

Absolutely Fantastic...I've tryed updated mod and now it's really a pleasure play with F12012... snthennumbers you are a great man... Thanks for your effort and your stuff

 

[Tom Vaughn]

Hey guys.Ive always wanted give this mod a try but when once i had installed it everíthing came on as per 2013..Now..Is there any way to use this mod properly with the original 2012 season?

 

[kaj007]

No, like the overview page says:


So making all teams available at Career start involves some messy modifications which can cause some big headaches with graphic files, etc. So I made it so that you should have contract offers from all teams by the end of Career Season 1 (assuming you're doing well in the championship )

As for 99 flashbacks: just install the database and you're good to go. Be sure to NEVER touch the flashbacks setting in the difficulty menu, or the # of flashbacks will get reset to 4, and it's a pain to fix it again.

ok thanx its a great mod and ai i downloaded both and works perfect